Around the Riverbend
by rampantramblings
Summary: Anxious university student wakes up in the Druadan Forest. Yet another stab at the tried and tested girl-falls-into-Middle-Earth model.


The first time she woke, it was in the foggy state of unawareness between dreamland and reality. Holly cracked an eye open, dazedly noticed the dirt crusted against her left cheek and the canopy of leafy foliage overhead, and promptly sank back to sleep. The second time was a few minutes later, when a rude shaft of sunlight filtered through the trees and squarely into Holly's face. She jolted awake, knees jerking reflexively into the fetal position as she properly took in her surroundings. She was lying on a carpet of sticks and dirt in the middle of what was unmistakably a _forest._

Holly froze for a long minute while her brain tried to catch up with her senses. She screwed her eyes shut and buried her face in her knees, curling up tighter into a little ball of denial.

_This is not real. This _cannot _possibly be real. This cannot be real, so it isn't real. I am not here._

There were, surprisingly, very few tears. As she was eventually forced to sit up and take actual stock of her situation, she somehow clung to a few scraps of composure. With no wilderness survival training of any kind, no clue how to navigate a forest and only a very slight willingness to believe that she was actually _in _a forest, Holly did the first thing that came to mind – scream.

"HELLO! CAN ANYONE HE-"

Her voice cracked and splintered, cutting her off abruptly, and she took a deep, shuddering breath, blinking very fast as her heart thudded audibly in her chest. Was that a river she heard in the distance or just her own blood pounding through her veins?

"ANDREW!" her voice was barely louder than a whisper though she was screaming with all her might. She couldn't get her breath; every lungful of air she sucked in seemed to drain out of her with involuntary shuddering gasps. She grabbed a tree root and dug her fingers in, hard enough that she felt one of her nails snap, gulping in air to screech "ANDREW IF THIS IS A JOKE ITISN'T_FUCKING_FUNNY JUST PLEASE GETMEOUTOFHEREPLEASE PLEASE –"

A wave of lucidity hit her like a slap in the face. She clapped a hand over her mouth, causing her to nearly swallow a fistful of dirt and leaves she hadn't even realized she was holding. What was she thinking?! There could be all kinds of wild animals in this forest! Weren't there wolves in these kinds of places? Foxes maybe, or dingos? Were dingos violent when startled? She scrambled for any kind of useful, practical knowledge but most of her brain seemed to have shut itself off from her reach.

_Find out what the fuck is going on._

Holly sat up and wiped the dirt and crusted tears from her face as best she could. Then she looked around and tried to make deductions. It felt a little like trying to wring water out of a bone-dry towel but she persisted.

_I'm fully dressed. My shorts aren't torn. My shirt is on – is my zipper done up?! My underwear –_

Frantically she checked the state of her underwear, then began feverishly patting herself down, checking her thighs, arms, chest for bruises or marks.

_My clothes are dirty but fine. I'm fine. I haven't been raped or beaten up. I don't feel groggy – do I have a headache? My mouth isn't dry. Have I been drugged? I don't think so. Help. I need help. Someone has to come and get me. Phone, do I have my phone?_

Her pockets were empty, but her messenger bag was lying at the base of a tree not far from her legs. Inside it was the typical paraphernalia, including her wallet, complete with cash, debit card and drivers' license (_I haven't been robbed_) and her mobile phone.

Fumbling, she turned on her phone. The battery was down to twenty-five percent. She frantically closed every application and turned the brightness down to its minimum, cursing herself for not charging it overnight. Or had she? How long had she been in the forest? The time showed four in the afternoon, which made no sense since it was clearly only early morning. At least it was still the fifth of January, so she hadn't been out for that long. What time had it been, the last she'd looked? She couldn't remember checking her phone since her lunch date with Andrew… after that her memory was vague and blurred. _What the fuck did he put in my drink? _

For a few minutes Holly wandered between the trees, waving her phone above her head in an attempt to get a signal. She lucked out, however – the trees must have been blocking the signal. That could happen, right?

She plopped down heavily on a log. _Think, Holly. Figure it out. Where am I?_

She clearly wasn't in at the university anymore, let alone still in Sydney or even anywhere in Australia, her rational mind told her. The forest was dense, and lush – neither dry nor stickily humid, and completely alien to her. Besides, Australian forests were way inland, weren't they? _It's dry there, and hot. I've seen pictures of the outback and that's definitely not where I am now. Unless I'm in a national park. Think, Holly, think! These trees look European, or maybe North American. Is there such a thing as a national park full of foreign trees? I suppose there must be one somewhere, since that must be where I am – there's no way I've left the continent without knowing about it._

Satisfied with her conclusion (or as satisfied as she could be whilst covered in dirt and leaves and teetering on the verge of a panic attack) she set off to find a park ranger, or maybe some nice tourists.

_Just pick a direction and start walking. Don't think about it. Just walk._

* * *

Three hours later (or at least, she thought it had been about three hours – she had turned off her phone to preserve the battery and hadn't dared turn it back on since) the trees had thinned out considerably, replaced by a thick carpet of lush grass and the occasional rabbit. Far from reassuring her, this made Holly very nervous. National parks were usually in the middle of cities, right? They would end abruptly and outside would be buildings and streets and _people._ What would be the point of going to the trouble of planting a forest full of foreign trees if not for people to visit? Her entire manufactured explanation was falling apart, but she refused to consider any alternatives. _I don't want to be in another country. I want to be home. I just want to go home. _

* * *

By mid-afternoon, Holly had emptied the contents of her bag twice, intent on finding a chocolate bar or a bottle of water. She was starving, and thirsty, and most of all _freezing. _The thin cotton of her top, while more than adequate for the hottest summer of the century, left her woefully unprepared for the chilly breeze of the forest. She had her arms folded across her chest and her hair spread out across her shoulders in a pitiful imitation of a jacket. She would have killed for some socks – her burned with the cold, and they also _ached. _Wedge sandals were clearly not appropriate for a day of spontaneous hiking.

Common sense had kicked in a couple of hours earlier, and she'd attempted to climb what appeared to be a tall and sturdy tree, thinking that she could try her phone again once she was above the canopy, or at least figure out which way to the city. For her troubles, she'd earned a nasty looking gash stretching from her palm to her elbow, and a bruised tailbone where she'd thudded to the ground.

She'd had only one major breakdown. She had lain in a heap on the ground, sobbing into the grass and wailing incoherently at the injustice of it all. She kept herself going with the thought that each step was a step closer to home. The looming prospect of spending a night in the forest also made a great motivator.

She was stumbling through the trees, when suddenly, she wasn't. The forest came to an abrupt end, and beyond it was not the cityscape she'd been hoping for. Instead, there was just grass and trees, and the faint peaks of snow-capped mountains in the distance.

_Well, shit._

Every muscle in Holly's body protested each step, but she knew that if she stopped moving she wouldn't have the will to start again. In this open area she felt even more vulnerable than she had in the forest, and so alone. The _nothing _all around her was the most crushing sight she'd ever seen.

Unexpectedly, the ground beneath her feet changed, and her toe struck something hard, unbalancing her. She landed hard on her outstretched palms, and felt her skin tear on the stones that had appeared beneath them.

_A road._

Euphoria hit her like a powerful drug. She started giggling, and leapt to her feet with newfound motivation. Her hands trembled with adrenaline. Roads meant people. Roads meant civilization.

Fortunately for Holly, she followed the road to the left. It didn't take long for her to realise she wasn't alone.


End file.
